University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.
Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
ESMO Open. 2020 Sep;5(5):e000862. doi: 10.1136/esmoopen-2020-000862.
The steady advances in oncology bring a host of therapeutic options for older adults (≤65 years old) with cancer. As these patients experience this proliferation of anticancer therapies, their caregivers too have witnessed their role rapidly expanding and evolving as they care for these individuals. To better understand the caregiver experience, a review of the current literature on informal caregiving and cancer caregiving was conducted. These informal caregivers are often individuals with a strong personal connection to the person with advanced cancer, such as a close relative, spouse/partner or friend. Caregivers provide a broad range of assistance with most aspects of day-to-day life. However, we have limited knowledge of the impact of this role on the caregivers themselves, particularly in the context of an older adult patient and their unique needs. Here, we explore the data on caregiver experience when caring for a person with advanced cancers-specifically, we characterise the symptom burden and effects on the caregiver well-being with emphasis on the care of older adults with cancer.
肿瘤学的稳步进展为≤65 岁的老年癌症患者带来了大量治疗选择。随着这些患者接受越来越多的抗癌治疗，他们的照顾者在照顾这些患者的过程中，也见证了自己的角色迅速扩展和演变。为了更好地了解照顾者的体验，对关于非正式护理和癌症护理的现有文献进行了回顾。这些非正式照顾者通常是与晚期癌症患者有密切个人关系的人，如近亲、配偶/伴侣或朋友。照顾者提供日常生活中各个方面的广泛帮助。然而，我们对这种角色对照顾者自身的影响知之甚少，特别是在老年患者及其独特需求的背景下。在这里，我们探讨了照顾晚期癌症患者的照顾者体验的数据——具体来说，我们描述了症状负担和对照顾者福祉的影响，并强调了对老年癌症患者的护理。
